Maybe It Was Destiny
by WordsAblaze
Summary: It takes Izzy multiple years, a few spiteful quidditch bets, and an enchanted serpent bracelet to find her other half, but it's more than worth the broken stereotypes and potentially unfashionable reputation in the end… Written for the Maia x Izzy Secret Santa!


_We've all been revealed so I think it's safe to post this here! This was beta'd by the wonderful ilovelilies on tumblr so thank you to her for checking over this!_

* * *

 **Maybe It Was Destiny**

* * *

Isabelle had always been slightly annoyed she hadn't had a sister growing up. Of course, she'd loved the way Alec and Jace had protected her, let her train with them, and never left her behind, but there were always certain things she couldn't share with them. Those are the things she hopes to share with someone at Hogwarts – an opportunity that had literally been magical.

The three of them had gotten their letters on what could have been a regular Saturday but turned out to be the day their lives changed for the better.

The owl on the table had been a shocking yet pleasant distraction from the fact that Izzy hadn't been allowed to make breakfast that morning. The Lightwood brothers had both sighed with relief, glad their argument could end, and Alec had carefully held out his arm for the owl to perch on.

"Is nobody else a bit weirded out?" Jace had asked.

"It's only an owl, not a flying rhino or anything," Izzy had scoffed in reply.

"It's letters, actually. One for all of us." Alec had flung their letters to them and frowned when the owl had taken off with no warning whatsoever but quickly turned to his own letter.

"Oh my stilettos," Izzy had whispered, her eyes wide.

Just as the three of them had read over the letters and started to accept that it was serious if the scarily specific details in the information were anything to go by when Maryse had come in. She'd taken one look at the stamp on the three empty envelopes and sighed, announcing that there would be a family meeting.

After a long hour of explaining and answering questions, she'd fully narrated their brief family history of witches and wizards, also mentioning that neither she nor Robert had been born with any magic so they'd assumed their magical genes had run out, which is why she'd never told them about the possibility before.

"So… where are we going to get all this stuff?" Alec had asked as soon as everything had sunk in, probably just because he was excited to learn more, the nerd.

Maryse had waved a hand and smiled. "We'll do that tomorrow. For now, you should gather the things you think you'll need to. And no, Isabelle, that does not mean your entire wardrobe."

That statement had led her to where she is now, staring at her outfits with her hands on her hips.

"How do I choose between silver and red?" Izzy asks herself.

"You take the blue!" Alec calls from somewhere, his voice echoing and full of suppressed laughter.

Izzy groans and gives up, flopping onto her bed as she opens up the scrapbook of random events she'd been keeping in case someone ever wanted to know more about her. She carefully staples the Hogwarts envelope to one page and writes the date underneath, doodling the two outfits she can't decide between to avoid having to actually choose between them.

Between gathering the little things like her favourite stationery or jewellery and helping Maryse with the garden's layout without actually doing any gardening, she didn't notice how quickly the time passes. When Alec does shout at her to say their lunch is ready, she abruptly realises how hungry she is and gently drops the necklace she was holding, skipping steps on the stairs as she heads to the dining room.

"When does it say you have to be at Hogwarts?" Maryse asks as they start eating.

"The train leaves on Thursday," Alec replies.

"Good. We'll probably have to take a few trips to get all of your stuff anyway."

"Wait, this Thursday?"

"No, last Thursday," Alec deadpans.

Izzy snorts, then chokes on her water, coughing until her whole face is as red as her lipstick. Jace glowers at her but carries on delicately shovelling food into his mouth, apparently too hungry to care about being mocked by his family.

"Is…" Izzy starts to ask, then changes her mind.

Maryse catches on anyway. "I'm afraid not. Your father has some urgent work he can't leave half done."

"So he's not going to see us off and maybe wish us luck?" Alec asks stiffly, his bitter dissent obvious.

An awkward pause descends over the room as Maryse nods and the siblings share a look, one that's been exchanged far too many times. The four of them end up finishing their meal in silence and Izzy immediately leaves to skip back upstairs because the boys are on clean-up duty.

"Isabelle, wait."

She turns around to see Maryse taking a deep breath and frowns for a second before schooling her expression into one of casual inquisition.

"I know it might be strange for you to be away from Alec and Jace so I've got something for you."

Away from them? Izzy pins that thought to the side of her mind before walking back down the stairs. "I don't understand."

Maryse smiles, a genuine smile of love and excitement, and for a moment, Izzy thinks she can see how beautiful her mother must have been before the stress of life brought her down; she vows to try and make her mother smile again at some point.

"I know you're not too fond of weapons but I have a feeling you'll like this one," Maryse says, handing Izzy a small, red box.

A small smile gracing her face, she lifts the lid of the box and gasps as she sees the small, intricate, silver serpent's head. Careful not to damage it, she pulls the whole bracelet out of the tissue paper and watches the way it seems to awaken, shaking itself out and hugging her right wrist.

"It's magic?" Izzy asks, surprised.

"It is now. It was worth next to nothing in my possession because it had no magic to sync with, but you do. It's tuned to you and your likings now, it will help you protect yourself."

"Thanks," Izzy says softly, and the two of them share a rare embrace.

* * *

It's three years later when Izzy finally decides what she means to her, and it's all due to the bracelet. Sort of.

It happens halfway into a Quidditch match she'd only agreed to play to spite stupid Camille who'd said girls shouldn't get their nails dirty. Naturally, she'd just bet she could do it without chipping her nails or ruining her hair – which was a task and a half but she was determined to prove a point. It might have helped that she and Alec had stayed up searching for beauty preservation potions…

Regardless, she's flying on the borrowed broom with a smug smile on her face when she sees those gorgeous brown eyes watching her, the same brown eyes she'd spotted back at the train station when she was boarding the Hogwarts' Express for the first time in her life.

Of course, she'd seen the girl here and there in her first year – they even shared a few classes – but it hadn't been until a game of truth or dare in their second year that she'd really gotten to know the girl.

The two of them had teamed up to sabotage the people who'd insulted Alec and Magnus, both to make a statement that nobody messes with their friends and for the fun of it.

Izzy remembers the first time the curly-haired witch had spoken, her voice echoing everywhere for days afterwards. And, now, as the two of them share a grin from their brooms, Izzy can once again feel her heart beat with an emotion she can't quite place.

"You tired, Lightwood?"

"You wish, Roberts," Izzy scoffs, but she's internally glad they're talking.

The two of them both spot the golden snitch at the same time, simultaneously diving after it and smirking at each other.

"You'll never get it!"

"Watch me!"

"I'd rather watch Simon pick his nose!"

"Rude!"

The two of them stifle their yells as they realise they hadn't noticed how close to the towers they'd been flying. Unfortunately, it's too late for them to slow down so they both just fly into the fabric. Izzy hits the side, tilting so far she falls off her broom, but before she can freefall, she feels the serpent on her bracelet unravel as it reaches upwards.

"This would be so bad if I had a fear of snakes, you know that, right?"

"Put a sock in it, Maia." Izzy grits her teeth as she swings herself upwards.

"I thought you didn't like my socks?" Maia teases, steadying Izzy.

Izzy goes as red as her lipstick.

"I like your bracelet, by the way," Maia says quietly, the usual loud boom in her voice almost too soft.

"It seems to like you as well," Izzy replies, smiling as the silver serpent slowly slithers back onto her wrist, leaving Maia's arm with a gentle flick of its tail.

Maia swears before either of them can comment on that. "Quidditch, Lightwood, quidditch!"

Izzy frowns. "But we're on the same broom?"

Maia blinks as if she hadn't noticed, then laughs to herself for a full ten seconds. "Better hold on tight," she whispers with a gleam in her eye.

"Wait, are you sure abo-?" Izzy manages before they're zooming forwards, and she can't help wrapping her arms around the Gryffindor, her eyes squeezing themselves shut in what is definitely not fear at all.

She hears Maia gasp but doesn't think much of it, assuming that the other players had swerved towards them or something. When she does open her eyes, the two of them are zooming towards the golden snitch and there's an eerie hush in the podiums – a silence that quickly morphs into its usual uproar when Ravenclaw scores, clearly not wanting to miss a single opportunity.

As they're zooming around the place, following a little golden orb, Izzy tries to remember if they need to win this match or not, statistically rather than pride-wise. Closing her eyes for a moment, she thinks back to her conversation with Alec and their strategic player rota.

"We need to win," Izzy decides.

"What?" Maia asks, her hair blowing in Izzy's face.

Izzy coughs. "Ravenclaw has to win. Gryffindor can afford another loss but Ravenclaw will be out of the competition if we lose this match. I have to catch this snitch, Roberts, I have to."

Maia is silent for an entire minute of wind whistling past them but then she nods. "This is why I like you."

"I fall off brooms?" Izzy asks, slightly confused but also flattered.

"No," Maia giggles, "I like you because you're more than a pretty face."

"You think I'm a pretty face?" Izzy echoes, smiling.

"A pretty rubbish one, yeah," Maia scoffs.

"Oh…"

Izzy doesn't know why she's bothered by that, she's faced more than enough haters in her time. Still, she can't escape the crushing disappointment in her heart when Maia so casually dismisses the idea of her being beautiful.

She watches the snitch unexpectedly change direction and acts without thinking: she jumps.

Having reached for the troublesome globe as she'd left the broom, she feels her fingers wrap around the cool surface of whatever material the snitch is and pushes herself forwards, tilting so that she completes her front flip with her feet firmly settled in the soft sand.

A moment and a half later, the other Quidditch players are whistling and flying down towards her, the podiums either stunned into a respectful silence or cheering their lungs out. She can see Alec cheering for her in the Ravenclaw podium and Jace screams all the way from the Gryffindor section even though his team have lost.

Caught up in the victory, she doesn't look for Maia until the after-party has died down, which didn't happen until 3 am the next morning.

Apparently, Maia is also a somewhat night owl because she's up and about when Izzy finally leaves the Ravenclaw common room to find her owl and send a letter to Max – he'd been adamant to hear from them every month at least so they all send him a letter on a three-week rota. Her owl – named something only Max can pronounce because he'd wanted the satisfaction of naming an animal – has just taken off when there's an obvious cough behind her.

Izzy jumps, spinning on her heel. "Oh. Maia… hi."

"Look, I didn't mean it," Maia blurts immediately, "your face isn't pretty rubbish."

"No?"

"No." Maia takes a deep breath, her eyes slamming shut as she figures out how to formulate a sentence. "I just said that so you wouldn't be weirded out."

"Weirded out?" Izzy asks as the two of them begin walking down the steps, having somehow decided to start moving without knowing.

Maia nods. "Izzy… I- I really like you."

"I like you too, how else would we be friends?" Izzy smiles but she can tell Maia isn't done.

"I don't want to be friends."

If falling hope had a sound, Izzy might be dead by now. Thankfully, her hope doesn't have to plummet too far because Maia shakes her head almost immediately. "That's not what I meant!"

"What do you mean?" Izzy asks quietly.

Maia groans. "I can't be friends with you, Isabelle Lightwood, because our friendship hurts."

That's a new one. Izzy's been told many things in her life but hearing such a simple yet undecipherable statement throws her brain into disarray. She doesn't know what to say or how to react so she just bites her upper lip and waits for Maia to explain.

It takes her a few moments but she does. "Your friendship hurts because I want a relationship."

Izzy opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out.

Now it's Maia's turn to bite her lip, chewing on it as she waits for Izzy to say something, anything. After more than a few beats of uncomfortable silence, she sighs sadly and starts to turn and head back where they came from.

"No, wait!" Izzy calls desperately, hating the break in her voice but hating the thought of losing Maia much more.

"I don't think we can 'still be friends' or whatever, for the record." Maia folds her arms.

Izzy takes a deep breath and glances down at the serpent on her wrist that seems to flicks its head in encouragement before stepping forwards and gently pressing her lips to Maia's lips for the briefest of seconds, simply to send a message.

Maia's eyes widen, her mouth parting in surprise and her hands clenching and unclenching in time with her racing heart. "I…"

Smiling, Izzy lightly nudges Maia. "I love you."

"Oh?" Maia seems too frozen to utter anything more than that.

"Oh."

"I mean it, you weirdo," Izzy giggles.

Maia's shock morphs into a giddy relief, the corners of her eyes crinkling and her cheeks lifting themselves up as she sighs. A second later, she envelops Izzy in a warm hug, the two of them stumbling as they lose their balance, lost in one another's arms.

"I love you more than anything, Isabelle Lightwood," Maia whispers in her ear.

Their matching smiles could light up an eternity of darkness.

* * *

It's two years later, when they're giggling with one another in the room of requirement, that Maia decides to do something impulsive, and it's more than a little bit because of the serpent bracelet.

There'd been another match, neither of them playing this time because it had been one of the all-male matches, the all-female one happening the following month. Instead of watching, they'd just practised spells behind a podium, maybe or maybe not from a spell book Magnus had given Izzy for her birthday.

Magnus may or may not have learned how to apparate undetected and Alec may or may not have perfect up Magnus' spells. Izzy and Maia may or may not have begged them to share their knowledge and Alec and Magnus may or may not have disapprovingly winked before then explaining how to do it, but nobody could gather enough evidence to prove it.

After the match had finished and Alec had given them the signal to say they were free to go, they'd apparated to the corridor. Doing as they'd accidentally learned, they'd slipped inside the room of requirement, giggling to one another.

"Maia!" Izzy laughs as the Gryffindor lifts her up and spins them around.

"What is it, Lightwood?" Maia teases.

Despite the mirth in her voice, she sets Izzy down and the two of them collapse into the beanbags in front of the fire, snuggling into one another two halves of a warm-blooded magnet.

Izzy grins as her serpent bracelet once again slithers along her wrist and around Maia's, creating a heart shape between them.

Maia smiles at the silver accessory, an idea forming in her mind.

Well, it's an idea she's been thinking off for a while but, despite being in the house of bravery, hasn't had the courage to go through with yet. Taking a deep breath, she slips off the beanbag and kneels up on one leg, pulling out a little box.

She's never seen someone's eyes widen as far as Izzy's do in that moment but she files the mental image for later, smiling widely at her girlfriend.

"I know we're still young and all but, when we're older and everything, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" Maia asks, her voice small but full of love.

Izzy can't even speak, she just squeaks and nods, throwing her arms around Maia and sending them both sprawling on the lush carpet. They're a giggling mess and Izzy couldn't possibly be happier, kissing Maia's nose with a proud smile.

"I really love you," Izzy manages.

"Is that a yes?" Maia grins.

"A hundred times over," she replies, blinking back tears.

"You're going to ruin your makeup, love."

Izzy laughs and sobs at the same time. "I don't care. I'd leave fashion behind for you."

"I guess love is in fashion huh, wifey-wife?"

The two of them share a smile and Izzy pulls Maia up, kissing her wild curls. In return, Maia grins at her and winks, then gasps and swears. "I forgot the flaming ring!"

Izzy dissolves into hysteria. It's a good few minutes before she catches her breath enough to ask: "You proposed and neither of us noticed we missed out the ring part?"

"I just really love you, you know that?" Maia says sincerely, her hysteria transferring to pure affection and adoration. "I couldn't love you more if I tried."

Izzy tries to stifle her smile but fails, blushing so hard she looks like a fresh strawberry. After all, neither of them really care that they don't have a ring because they're enough for each other and they don't need anything to tell them they're in love.

Well, that's not strictly true, and they both know it. They owe their relationship to the serpent bracelet that lives both on Izzy's wrist and in their hearts. Without it, they wouldn't have flown on that broom together and they definitely wouldn't have promise-married each other in the room of requirement.

Strange, Izzy thinks, how they found love through the object that only came to her possession through sheer chance – their relationship built along a succession of coincidences and a sprinkling of luck… or maybe it was destiny.

* * *

 _Hope you enjoyed! Any feedback or comments? Have a good one :)_


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